


The Advent of Traditions

by SloanGreyMercyDeath



Series: December 2020 [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Day One, December Challenge 2020, F/F, but his name is Henry Prentiss-Jareau here, it's very cute!, ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27831160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SloanGreyMercyDeath/pseuds/SloanGreyMercyDeath
Summary: Day 1: starting an advent calendar
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Series: December 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036989
Kudos: 69





	The Advent of Traditions

**Author's Note:**

> Based on iridescent-hallucinations.tumblr.com list of December Prompts.

“Um, what are you doing?”

JJ took the nail from her mouth, keeping her finger on the wall to mark her place. “I’m putting a nail here so I can hang the Advent Calendar.”

Blinking, Emily nodded slowly, gesturing for JJ to continue. Her wife was the handy one. Her childhood in rural Pennsylvania had taught her how to care for a house and Emily’s childhood had taught her nothing practical. JJ held the nail up to the wall and hammered it in easily.

The noise woke the baby and Emily patted JJ’s shoulder before wandering away toward the nursery. Their son, Henry, was only a few months old. This was his first Christmas and both JJ and Emily were determined to make it a good one. He wouldn’t remember, but it was the thought that counted.

Opening the door to his bedroom, she stuck her head into the room to see him sitting up and whining. Emily went inside, grinning as he looked at her. He was swaddled tightly, but she could see his little arms moving.

“Hi, baby,” Emily cooed, reaching into the crib. She started opening the velcro of the swaddle. “Did your mama scare you with her hammering? She scared me, too.”

He laughed, arms swinging wildly as soon as they were free. He was so small that she worried about breaking him constantly. His eyes were an almost transparent grey and he had a messy head of blonde hair. Emily loved that he looked just like JJ. It made it even easier to love him.

“Come on,” she grunted, picking him up and cradling him against her chest. “Let’s go see what all that noise was for.”

His tiny feet kicked eagerly and he babbled happily. They made their way back to the living room, exchanging cheerful noises. His little pajamas had ducks on them and Emily thought she might die from the cuteness.

“Hey, Mama,” Emily said as they passed the couch and met her where she stood by the wall. “What’s that?”

JJ was holding a large wooden house. It had 24 little doors, each with the number painted on it. The house was about three inches thick, with a fake chimney on top. The paint had clearly been bright and vibrant at one point, but now it was faded and the wood grain was visible through it.

“It’s my advent calendar,” JJ answered. She pressed a quick kiss to Henry’s head. “I’ve had it my whole life.”

“Oh, I know what that is.” Emily bounced Henry slightly as he fussed. “It has tiny bottles of whiskey inside, right?”

JJ gave her a surprised look, one perfect eyebrow raised. “No? I’m going to put chocolate in it.”

Emily blushed, reminded again that they’d had very different experiences growing up. “That’s probably for the best.”

She chuckled and hung the calendar on the nail. The tip of the house hung perfectly on the nail, somehow not tearing it straight out of the wall. It looked like a picture perfect Christmas decoration.

“Remind me how this works,” Emily said, giving Henry to JJ. “My vague memory tells me that we’d just drink them all at once.”

“Oh my god.” JJ laughed at Emily, rolling her eyes fondly. “Every day you open the corresponding number and eat the chocolate.” Emily reached for the 1st, but JJ slapped her hand away. “I just hung it! It’s empty.”

Pouting, Emily tucked a hair behind her ear. “No need to be rude. I’m excited!”

“If you keep acting like that,” JJ threatened, “I’ll make you say the prayers.”

“Prayers?”

JJ nodded, giving Henry her finger to hold. “There’s one for each week. I don’t even remember them honestly.”

Emily snorted, walking to the couch and dropping heavily. “Then it’s an empty threat.”

“You know what’s not an empty threat?” JJ said, sitting beside her carefully. Henry reached for Emily and JJ passed him over.

“What?”

“I could make you cook Christmas dinner.”

Emily grinned down at Henry, wiggling a finger in his face. “That sounds like a punishment for Mama, not me. Doesn’t it, baby? This Mama doesn’t mind take-out. You drink milk, so you don’t even care!”

“You’re so smug,” JJ said, even as she took Emily’s arm in her own and leaned against her. “But you’re right. I wouldn’t do that to myself, or the team.”

Emily popped her lips down at Henry, wrinkling her nose. “Are you excited for your first Christmas, Henry? Papa Rossi is bringing lasagna, and Hotch is bringing green bean casserole, and your uncle Spencer is bringing the stuffing, and auntie Penelope is bringing a weird vegan cake, and auntie Tara is bringing a good cake, and Derek and Savannah are bringing Hank and mashed potatoes.”

“Wow,” JJ sighed dreamily, “we only have to make the turkey. I love that for us. Maybe I’ll use the extra time to make buttermilk biscuits from scratch.”

Emily gasped loudly, startling both Henry and JJ. “Please! Would you use your mom’s recipe? Those biscuits are so fucking good!”

JJ’s eyes narrowed at the curse, but she didn’t bother chastising Emily. Henry wasn’t old enough to absorb anything anyway. Besides, Emily’s excitement was so cute. Even Henry was smiling up at Emily and tugging on her hair.

“That’s the only recipe I know,” JJ confirmed. She pressed a kiss to Emily’s cheek. “I guess I have to do it now.”

“You hear that, Henry?” Emily asked. “Mama’s making biscuits!”

“Why don’t you go put him down?” JJ suggested, squeezing Emily’s arm before pulling away. “It’s his bedtime.”

Emily nodded and stood, heading back to Henry’s bedroom. He was already falling back to sleep, so she just put him back into his swaddle and laid him down into the crib. Brushing his messy hair out of his forehead, she took a moment to just watch him breathe.

They’d chosen for JJ to be the one to carry the baby. Emily’s near-death experience hadn’t taken away her ability to have children, but she hadn’t been sure if she wanted to put her body through the long process. JJ was healthy, fit, and more than willing to give birth, so it had been an easy decision.

Emily thought the fact that Henry was a part of JJ made her feel even more attached to him. She would have loved him no matter what, but now he was an extension of her favorite person. She hoped that he got most of his personality from JJ, not from her. With a final glance, Emily left the room, closing the door behind her.

She walked into the living room and caught JJ putting candy into the Advent Calendar. “Why don’t we just eat them now? It’s practically the same thing!”

“It’s not,” JJ told her, smiling over her shoulder. “I know it’s silly, but I want to do things right for Henry. I don’t want it to be as stressful as it was for me.”

Leaning against the wall beside the calendar, Emily ran a hand over JJ’s arm. “I want that for him, too, and for us. We can keep old traditions and make new ones, without going crazy. Personally, I’m never going to drag Henry to an Ambassador’s Christmas Ball, but I may teach him to ballroom dance, so we can waltz to my favorite Christmas Operettas.”

“I love that.” JJ put the last piece of chocolate into the 24th door and closed it. Turning to smile at Emily, she stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Emily’s shoulders and leaning in close. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me,” Emily murmured, dipping her head down. “I’ll do anything for the two of you. I’ve got a weakness for light-eyed blondes.”

“Happy December 1st, Emily.”

Brushing their lips together, Emily smiled. “Merry 23 days before Christmas, baby.”


End file.
